On the western edge of Gardners Neck sits the village of Ocean Grove on a point. At the end of the point where Coles River meets the bay is Swansea Town Beach. This small stretch of beach, which faces south towards Mount Hope Bay, makes for a good and short beach walk. It overlooks most of the bay with views of Tiverton and Portsmouth in the distance. In fact on a clear day you can see the Sakonnet River Bridge six miles away. The beach is open to the public and is accessible for no fee in the off-season. Dogs are not allowed and parking is limited and enforced.

Along the shore of the Palmer River, this uniquely fragile piece of land is one of the Barrington Land Conservation Trusts most beautiful properties. Partly the reason for that is the fact that it is quite preserved. The property is only open to the general public during tours. Johannis Farm includes open fields, farmland, salt water marshes and wetlands, as well as woodlands. The property is great for bird watching and is home to egrets, ospreys, geese, ducks, and bald eagles. The walk, just over a mile and led by a member of the Land Trust, covers all the features of the property. There are a couple wooden footbridges to cross. They are narrow, tend to be slick, and could be challenging to those with balance issues. It is a very damp site, so proper footwear is required, waterproof boots are highly suggestible. The property extends into Swansea and also abuts the Barney/Bell Preserve in Swansea as well. Please respect the rules of this property and only visit during public tours. You can contact the Barrington Land Conservation Trust at info@blct.org to inquire about their next public tour.

Village Park was my after work choice for a hike today. This was strictly a last minute decision and I hadn’t done much research on it. I had originally thought of checking out Anawan Rock in Rehoboth but I was more in a hiking mood than a short exploratory excursion. I have known about Abrams Rock (which is in Village Park) for a while but had never got around to checking it out until today. This property is widely known for off road bicyclists. The trails are rather narrow and there are wider fire roads. I did not have a set route in mind when I arrived but I figured I would at least venture out and look for the landmarks that intrigued me. I started this hike from the parking lot behind the Swansea Town Library. I first walked by a cemetery before the fire road veered to the left. I shortly came upon a gate. Just after the gate I turned left and followed the Lakeside Trail as it passed a soccer field before following the shore of a small lake. I took some pictures here in black and white of the clouds and lake. Near the end of this trail there is a dam and waterfall. I then found my way onto the Rusty Car Trail and ironically enough came across an old rusty car. I then followed some fire roads to Wildcat Rock. The rock is one of three rather large and impressive puddingstone boulders in the park. I decided to climb to the top of the rock and see how things (injuries) felt. The sense of accomplishment made the climb well worth it. However, going up was the easy part as I’m still having great difficulty with downhill climbs. After I scaled down the rock I found myself meandering through the Boulderdash Trail and the Two Guys Trail before reaching Abrams Rock. This rock is the largest in the park towering 40 feet above the trail. So I climbed it. After spending some time at the top and taking in the beauty and lonely solitude of Mother Nature I scaled back down and made my way back to the entrance and back to the car. I did discover a few things today. One, I am in much better shape than I was when I climbed the Hemlock Ledges Overlook last spring, and two, I’m still not completely healed from last summers injuries. As with most painful things in life, this will go away someday.